Falkirk Labour councillor will ignore calls to quit

Stuart Barber

A former council leader has dismissed any chance of her resigning after she was challenged over her attendance at health board meetings.

Councillor Linda Gow came under fire from the SNP Group after she rejected a bid to have Councillor Cecil Meiklejohn elected to a three-member team which will represent the council on an integration joint board working with NHS Forth Valley to take forward plans to dramatically improve health and social care.

Councillor Linda Gow

At a special meeting of the full council the Labour veteran and council’s delegated representative on the health board, nominated herself and Labour colleagues Dennis Goldie and Allyson Black.

She then voted against the SNP being included, saying: “The SNP has shown little committment to supporting outside bodies and the role of the integration joint board is too important for people not to turn up.”

Now the SNP has produced figures showing Councillor Gow attended just four of the 11 board meetings held over the last two years and demanded she quit the new joint board and health board and apologise for “misleading” the council.

Councillor Steven Jackson claimed: “The double standards and rank hypocrisy demonstrated by Linda Gow is breathtaking. Far from denying the SNP a place on the new board because they fear absenteeism on our part what they clearly fear is scrutiny of their own members attendance which, in terms of membership of NHS Forth Valley Health Board is abysmal.”

Councillor Gow said: “I won’t be resigning or apologising. I won’t challenge the information provided by the SNP either, but point out many board meetings clash with council executive meetings while the key work is done at the partnership board meetings involving chief executives, directors and senior officers of the council and health board and I have never missed one of them.”